Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
I've got to say that I was happily surprised by SciFi's remake while watching it last night. I really expected to be non-impressed, if not angered by the remake. Everything I read about it ahead of time seemed to point at it being a steaming pile of fertilizer. Other than a few points, I'm glad I was wrong!

I was a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica! I was only 10 years old at the time, the perfect age to be massively impressed with the show. Everyone in my grade (even some of the girls) at my school (Calvary Christian School in Fort Wayne, Indiana) were majorly into the show, so it was almost ritualistic in a way. A Battlestar Galactica trading card of Maren Jensen (Athena) was the ultimate prized possession at the time. Wow she was hot! :)

The plot, while pretty much completely different from the original, was well thought-out. While I'm still not convinced of the wisdom in totally getting rid of the search for Earth, the story behind the cylons makes a lot more sense this time, if not blatantly stolen from the Terminator movies. The new approach to the Baltar character is ingenious and very human - what computer geek wouldn't give a viciously hot female cylon (Tricia Helden) the keys to the mainframe in exchange for her pleasures, and wouldn't even realize that they were being used until it was way too late, just like Baltar. I've got to feel that is the best new plot change - it's actually believable. The old Baltar didn't make any sense, no matter how evil a person is, who would sell out their whole race to go hang out with a bunch of robots and some really ugly lizard dudes? But for Tricia Helden, it's not only beleivable, it's like "Hey, where do I sign up?" :)

I've got a wait and see attitude on the severe changes to the characters. Starbuck as a girl is going to be a difficult thing to get used to. Maybe if she'd flash me I'd feel better. :) That's the one thing that gets me, too many absolutely radical character changes. Starbuck is a girl, Boomer changes from a black man to an oriental woman, Colonel Tigh changes from a black man to an old white man. Captain Apollo is now a whiny punk. Maybe it's all pan out and work good, but if anything kills the new Galactica, this will be it.

Things I didn't like: The new added names, sure they make thing more fleshed out and possibly more real, but they really didn't need to go there. Adama is now "Bill" Adama (WTF?). Even worse, Apollo is now "Lee Adama" - that's just plain lame. It reeks of Barbie and Ken for some reason.

And the new Galactica - Ugly as hell. The old Galactica looked somewhat like a Lamborghini, the new one looks like the battery charger I use to keep my 1985 Blazer running.

But, all in all, I was really impressed with the new storyline and can't wait to watch more tonight!
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
Sure, I was stupid enough to think that it was a four DAY miniseries instead of a four HOUR miniseries, but judging from the slowness of the SciFi website tonight, I don't think I'm the only one...

But even then, heck even WORSE, was they just end the thing with "Oh, by the way, Boomer's a  fucking CYLON, see ya...". What the hell kind of a slap in the face.

So I'm all pumped waiting all day to see the third days episode, and instead there's some Stephen King show on. Sure, I like Stephen King, but I certainly didn't want to see any of his stuff tonight.

Instead, I head off to the SciFi web site to try and figure out what the hell's going on, and find that was it, it's over...  

It was a great couple of episodes, and I'd be very happy to see a series based on the Galactica 2003 premise, even if I am a big fan of the original and feel that SciFi really fucked Richard Hatch (after he tried for years to get the series restarted, and then they just spit in his face on this one...), now that I see the new concept, I'd be just as happy with a Galactica 2003 series as I would with a new series based on Galactica 1978.

But I'm pissed off, angry, and feeling ill-used with this sudden shitty ending. A great ending for a single episode, but without the guarantee of a SciFi series starting up, it's really a shitty ending for a miniseries! A miniseries is supposed to have a conclusion, dammit. And I thought Galactica 1980 was a bad series! (Except the episode where Starbuck returns...)  

As long as they start a REAL series out of Galactica 2003, then everything fine, no hard feelings. But if that never happens, then a big Fuck You to the people behind this. I'd have rather sat through a Dr. Zee gets gay with Boxey than left eternally hanging with that ending!
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
The advance press for the mini-series really made me worry, so much so that I almost decided I would not watch. Hearing that Starbuck would be a woman struck me as modern-day Hollywood political correctness with a very heavy hand. Learning that the Cylons would indistinguishable from humans just seemed like a way to save money, since there would be no costumes.

But I did watch, and I am glad I did. I think it did a very admirable job of respecting the first series while taking the basic premise and making it edgier and somewhat thought-provoking. The dialogue was far better than I expected; in fact, there were only a handful of "cheese" moments in the four-hours series. But even those potentially dreadful moments were rescued by very solid performances from the actors.

I have to say that Sci-Fi did a very admirable job converting my skepticism into anticipation. I would like to see more.
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
I've seen a lot of what made DS9 the best Trek ever in Galactica: shades of grey. While Picard was lily-white, Sisko engaged in back-stabbing, brutality and (otherwise unknown in Star Trek) self-doubt. Anyhow, this argument has been well-hashed out here and elsewhere about Trek.

What puzzles me watching the new Galactica is how I ever accepted the delivery of the premise of the old series. I mean, the premise lays out 99.99% of the human race has just been brutally slaughtered, and things don't look good for the remaining .01%, and yet we're still treated to light-hearted B.S. with Boxey and that loveable rogue (ugh) Starbuck. The new Galactica shows people how they would really be: frightened, depressed, and desperate.

Furthermore, as much as I loved John Colicos, the new characterization of Baltar is far more complex. Baltar seems to be a right-bastard, but one who realizes that he is and wishes (vainly) that he was not. Resigned to his nature, he's looking to cut the best deal he can.

They'll undoubtedly lose Mary McDonald before the end of the mini. This show kicks the crap out of anything else sci-fi has; I dearly hope that they chill on the pointless sex scenes, relax on the zoom-focus fx shots, and make this a damn series.
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
Next week on Battlestar Galactica: Commander Adama finally gets a full night's sleep! Adama like you've never seen him before -- he's wide awake and ready for action!
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
Boxey is one of the 12 Cylon models. Watch the interaction between him and Boomer again and see if you don't agree with me.
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Battlestar Galactica 2003
Posted: 12/9/2003 11:32:10 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,579
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Science Fiction
I thought the miniseries was easily one of the best sci fi efforts I've seen. Not only was it well put together as a single episode, but they did a lot of things right that I find encouraging when considering a series:

Interesting Characters. The characters actually came off as human, as opposed to the goodie-two-shoes of Star Trek or the one-sided archetypes that plagued most of B5's run or the good-evil simplicity that exists in, well, George W. Bush's world. People do stupid, self-destructive things for delusional or illogical reasons, so it's nice to see that reflected. One event sums it up nicely: In just about any other series, the XO wouldn't have fished that bottle of booze out of the trash.

Excellent ship combat. The part where the Galactia climbs out of the nebula to cover the armada's retreat was excellent on a couple of levels. First, it wasn't just well rendered but also well filmed, by which I mean the staging and the "camera" positioning where very well done. I also liked the approach to combat -- too many series treat their huge capital ships like WW2 dogfighters.

Acting. Olmos and Laura Roslin carried the day, but the rest of the cast was competent, too. This is another one of my beefs with certain other series (coughBab5cough) where some of the cast couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. Granted, they were often bit, guest or supporting parts, but that didn't break the illusion any less.

The only part I didn't like so much was Starbuck. I don't mind that they made her a woman, but really I felt as if they'd written the role and her lines for a man and then changed a few details at the last second. She was believable in the cockpit (her "Nothing but the rain" comment was one of my favorite lines of the series), but had a hard time pulling it off elsewhere. I blame the writing for this.

Gah, that's a long-winded way of saying "thumbs up", eh?

----
Unless you can question your own beliefs, you have no place questioning the beliefs of others.
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